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52 Cal. 428

Lake v. Lake

California Supreme Court

Decided July 1, 1877

California Supreme Court · decided 1877-07-01

Pico and Alvarado claimed the land of the “ cx-Mission of San Jose,” in Alameda County, under an alleged grant from the Government of Mexico, and applied to the Board of Commissioners appointed by the United States for the settlement of private land claims in California, to have it confirmed. The Commissioners confirmed the grant, but an appeal was taken to the District Court of the United States, and in 1859 the grant was by that tribunal rejected.

Relies on Meyer v. Kinzer · Smith v. Smith · Quivey v. Baker

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1877-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently April 1927

4 state decisions

20187718801890190019101920decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1The property'was the separate estate of Sydney S., purchased’ as it was with his own funds before his marriage, and the fact that he was compelled to procure an outstanding title after his marriage did not change the character of the estate into that of community property. In copartnerships, marital as well as business, the equitable titles, as contradistinguished from the legal, are solely recognized and enforced by Courts of Equity as between the copartners. (Eslinger v. Eslingcr, 47 Cal. 62; Smith v. Smith, 12 Cal. 216; Meyer v. Einzen, 12 Cal. 253.)

¶2*430Noble Hamilton and A. J. Le Breton, for the Respondent.

¶3The transfer from Popper to Lake did not convey the title to the land. That was vested in the United States until the issuance of the patent in 1867. Previous to that time, Lake could have been treated by the Government as a trespasser upon its domains, and summarily ejected. In fact, he had no right or interest in the property at all until the payment of the money specified in the Act of March 3rd, 1865. (Hutton v. Frisbie, 37 Cal. 474; Sheehy v. True, 45 Cal. 236.) Property purchased during marriage is presumed to be community property. (Statutes of 1850; Houston v. Curl, 8 Texas, 242; Smith v. Smith, 12 Cal. 224; Hamsdell v. Fuller, 28 Cal. 42.

By the Court :

¶4The property in controversy was the separate estate of Sydney S. Lake.

¶5Judgment and order denying a new trial reversed, and case remanded, with directions to render judgment in accordance with this opinion.

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